Here you go! I have been using this basting butter for 13 years now and while I may be tempted to try another one, I just can't bring myself to do so. The recipe came from Bon Appetit, November of 1996. The instructions were part of a whole roast turkey menu they did and call for lossening (separating) the skin from the breast and legs and placing a good portion of this in there and then massaging more into the cavity and outside with it also. If any is leftover, use it to further baste the bird. It make a great base for the gravy. Citrus Thyme Butter  1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces, room temperature  1/4 cup fresh orange juice  1/4 cup fresh lemon juice  2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried  1 tablespoon grated orange peel  1 teaspoon grated lemon peel  3/4 teaspoon salt  3/4 teaspoon pepper Note: The orange and lemon juice do not like to blend into the butter, so I just increase the grated peel. You can also add sage and rosemary if you like. I hope you enjoy.

Thanks! Our friend is getting over chemo. She loves plants, but never had a citrus tree. We can hardly wait to give this to her. That's why I'm starting a lot of calamondins from seeds lately. I'd like to give them away as gifts eventually. There's just something special about a little Calamondin tree full of fruit. laura: I think I bought that tree from a local nursery a few years ago. It's been a faithful fruiter. Not the prettiest we have, but it sure does fruit a lot. mike: I really like those pots too. I have a few of them. All contain calamondins. Squirrel knocked one over the other day, broke it. Tree is ok and repoted in another one. Another squirrel ate up my longevity spinach today. Driving me nuts!

After a very unique and wet winter in here NorCal, my little citrus trees are looking good (except for the marsh grapefruit, but he's making a comeback). You will see a companion plant all around my citrus (and all my roses too). It's called Lacy Phacelia and it's a CA native annual that is amazing for pollinators. I sprouted them from seed and they all took off! I know some people believe in not planting anything around citrus trees, but I experimented with this anyways this past season. I noticed something REALLY awesome about Lacy Phacelia... so before you knock it, let me tell you about it! ;) Eureka lemon... WA navel orange... Clementine mandarin... Mexican lime... Meyer lemons... You will see the Lacy Phacelia are barely starting to bloom. Lacy Phacelia (foliage, not just the blooms) seems to attract these little flies that are striped green and black and hover around to eat aphids and all sorts of other pests! With all the rain California has had this winter... the aphids are crazy. Some plants have the most aphids I have ever seen personally in my life! But all the plants near the Lacy Phacelia have almost NO aphids! And the Lacy Phacelia itself has absolutely none!! There are lots of those little flies nearby that are eating all the aphids. Sorry I don't know bugs that well so I'm not quite sure what they are, but I think they are hover flies ... and I know they are hungry! Very interesting! It's quite a noticeable difference. If that's the case, this is definitely going to be an annual addition to my yard! I tried Lacy Phacelia initially to help with pollination, but this is an amazing and unexpected happy surprise! They are also an annual, germinate really easy (in my yard), pull up really easy, and supposedly 4% nitrogen, so if you compost, they are a good nitrogen fertilizer source. :)

Oh ... Old fashioned apple butter cooked in a big copper kettle over an open fire. DH's grandfather in WV used to make the most awesomely amazing apple butter. Never had anything come close since his passing :-( and nobody knows what happened to the kettle.